Newton Students Win 2023 College-Sponsored National Merit Scholarships

NEWTON, MA — A group of Newton high school seniors have won college-sponsored National Merit Scholarship awards, according to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC).

Asha J. Bohnert, Ella Y. Hou, Lawrence Qiu, and Kyle K. Zhang, students at Newton North and South, are four of approximately 3,800 students who have won college-sponsored National Merit Scholarship awards financed by 153 U.S. colleges and universities.

Bohnert will receive a scholarship sponsored by the University of Southern California to study medicine, Hou and Qiu will receive Tufts University scholarships to study optometry and electrical engineering, respectively, and Zhang will receive funds from Carleton College to study medicine.

The college-sponsored National Merit Scholarship winners were selected from students who advanced to the Finalist level in National Merit Scholarship competition. College sponsors provide National Merit Scholarships for Finalists who plant to attend their institution.

These awards provide between $500 and $2,000 annually for up to four years of undergraduate study at the institution financing the scholarship.

This final group of winners brings the number of 2023 National Merit Scholars to more
than 7,140. These distinguished high school graduates will receive scholarships worth a total of nearly $28 million.